The Art of Stealing Cars by Kara Tezla

Disclaimer: I do NOT own any of the Acceleracers Characters. although I wish I did And I do not own Trinity Wheeler and Co., those belong to Wings of Speed.

Summary: The Teku and the Metal Maniacs go to LA to race, but what happens when their cars start disappearing?

Author's Note: None today. :-p

Chapter Eleven: Interesting Conversations

"What's up, Al?" Asked Tyce as they pulled out of the gas station. Alex had a look on his face that Tyce reconized as the that-was-so-smart-I'm-a-genius look.

"Oh, nothing," Alex replied, the smirk-like grin making itself bigger.

"Oh, it is not nothing, I know that look." Tyce said. "Why did you want to switch cars with your sister? There's something going on here that I don't know about."

"You got that right. Vert has a crush on Kara."

"What? That blonde dude?"

"Yup."

Tyce smothered a laugh with a fake cough... or tried to, anyway.

"What the heck was that?" Exclaimed Alex before he burst out with laughter.

"I don't know, but... Vert doesn't know what... he's getting himself into!" Tyce gasped between fits of laughter.

VVVVVVVVVV

Meanwhile in Reverb, Vert and Kara were getting to know each other.

"I don't believe we were properly introduced," Said Kara.

"Um, yeah. I don't think we were," Vert said, glancing sideways at the girl in the passenger seat. "I'm Vert Wheeler. And I would shake your hand if I wasn't driving at the moment."

Kara smiled. "Hi, Vert, I'm Kara Tezla... but I bet you already knew that."

Vert also smiled. "Yeah,"

Kara looked at the blonde in the seat next to her. He was cute, but then again, she had always been a sucker for blue eyes.

"So, where are we going in relation to the Rocky's?" He asked, trying to get the ball in her court.

"Well," She started, gazing down the road in front of them. "He lives on the other side of the Rocky Mountains, near--actually, he's pretty much on Pike's Peak... the side of it, that is. Not really in a town or anything, but Victor's the closest one. He lives in Pike's National Forest; it's so beautiful. Trees and rivers and rocks... and more trees,"

"So... is there anywhere to drive our cars?" Asked Vert.

Kara looked at him and blinked. "Didn't you hear? He lives in a National Park. He had to sign a contract saying that he couldn't build anything except what they gave permission for. Do you think that they would allow a race track?"

Vert shook his head.

"That's right," Kara paused. "...But there is one underneath his house. One of those portal things that he used in World Race, but condensed... smaller. I have no idea if it works or not, but it's definitely there."

"What? Cool,"

Kara grinned. "That's it? Just cool?" Both of them laughed. "But that's not all, Vert. Do you know what else? There's an airforce base less then a hour and a half away in Colorado Springs, and if you cut through the forests going south, there's a whole millitary base down there!"

Vert looked at Kara. "Cool,"

VVVVVVVVVV

"What do you think they're doing back there?" Asked Tyce teasingly.

Alex twisted in his seat and looked out the window of the truck. "I don't know, I can't really see through two cars."

Tyce frowned. "But we're in a truck, you should be able to see over them, shouldn't you?"

"Well, obviously not!" Alex said, throwing his hands into the air and turning back around.

"You're the one who wanted to switch with her, Al! Remember? You waltzed right up here and told Kara to trade with you. You shouldn't be wondering what's going on when you're the person who started it all! Whatever goes on between those two is your fault, and yours alone."

Alex glared at Tyce. "You don't need to lecture me about it, jeez."

"And I think you want something to happen, and that's why you did it."

"What! What gave you that idea?"

"You are always so protective of her, and she can't even go off by herself without you wanting to know where she's going or what she's doing."

"So?"

"Yeah, she's a big girl now, Al. Leave her alone for once,"

"Tyce, you're starting to sound like my parents, but you're only a year older than me!"

"Oh. Well, my point is she's older than you--"

"By two minutes!" Exclaimed Alex.

"--and you should trust her. So stop freaking out about it," Finished Tyce with a small grin.

"WHO EVER SAID I WAS FREAKING--" Alex started to yell, but stopped himself. "Fine,"

VVVVVVVVVV

Both Kara and Vert were laughing. "Then, Alex ran to Uncle Peter and pulled him back through the house. There was so much toilet paper everywhere," Said Kara; then sighed.

"That was hilarious," Vert said, wiping his eyes and taking a deep breath.

Kara grinned. "So, do you have any siblings?"

"No, unfortunately. You're so lucky having three brothers."

"Ha, that's what you think,"

"It sounds like a blast!"

"Well, it all depends on who it is and where it happens. You get lucky sometimes, and sometimes you get in loads of trouble." She paused. "Did you ever get in any trouble, Vert? Being an only child sounds tough, 'cause you'd always get blamed for everything."

"Well, yeah, but my mom always thought I was 'so cute' until I became a teenager."

"That happened to all of us,"

Vert nodded. Ahead of them, the cars started pulling into a rest stop. "It's been three hours already?"

"Yeah, time flies when you're having fun." Kara quipped while she pulled herself out of Reverb. She jogged towards Mark, who was getting out of Adrianna's Mustang.

"Man," Vert said, opening his door.

VVVVVVVVVV

"VERT!" Screamed Alex, running towards Vert, who was getting out of Reverb. "Vert!" He said weakly; he was now out of breath. Alex leaned up against Reverb.

"What?" Asked Vert urgently.

"How did it go?" Alex gasped.

Vert slumped over. "That's it? Well, it went fine, I guess. Your sister has some pretty funny stories about you, though." He said, grinning.

Alex's eyes grew in size. "What?"

Ahaha! I love making Alex freak out. Next Chapter Preview: The Introduction of Dr. Peter Tezla of the Scrim Corps. not the SHRIMP corps, we ain't talkin' Forest Gump here More volleyball tomorrow! It should be ending in the middle of March, but softball starts the begining of April. luckily, it's not everyday like volleyball! Sorry, I updated fast, so if you didn't get a chance to review, I'm sorry!

Wings: Yup, heating up, definitely coming up! The Ashes are going to be playing an important role in upcoming events. hint: it has something to do with the millitary And, btw, Victor, Colorado is an actual town next to Pike's Peak. I randomly selected on this maps thing a place on near the Rocky Mountains, and it happened to be Victor, Colorado, near Pike's Peak, 1 1/2 hours outside of Colorado Springs. There is an actual millitary base and airforce base there too. Cool, huh? It was perfect. Vert and Kara have 6 more hours in Reverb together, but I doubt anything else but bonding is going to happen. grins Which is too bad. It's kinda hard getting everybody in the story! Ah! I'm getting panicky! But anywho, some characters are gonna disappear wink wink for a while when everyone gets to Tezla's house. heehee, lol.